James Patterson's writing style is my pet peeve; at least his writing style in the few books of his I read back in 2004. Perhaps I read the wrong couple of books, but what I read bordered on being offensive the writing techniques were so poor.
I'm not proud of it, but I like my occasional mystery/suspense/thriller fiction book. I call it my fast food reading. It's not going to make me any smarter, but it is good for some cheap, quick, easy entertainment. I'll indulge in a Dean Koontz novel as often as he writes them in between my heavier "meals" of postmodern fiction and the like.
All that being said, I still want these books to be written with some writing skill! James Patterson pisses me off because in the books I read, the killer ended up being an incredibly minor character. If I remember correctly (and I suppose there is a good chance I'm not) the character was only mentioned once, maybe twice before being reveled as the killer in the end. In my opinion, this does not good writing make!
Obviously this character being the killer was a huge shock. The reader had no idea that it was coming. Why would they? The character was barely introduced and nothing more. Of course the author has all the power in writing the book. It does not demonstrate skill to use that power to pull a fast one on readers. What does take skill is to surprise readers in the end all the while weaving a tale that supports that surprise ending. A skillful writer keeps the reader in suspense and then rewards them with a shocker at the end. The difference is that the reader can then look back and see how this ending was entirely plausible. They ask themselves, "how did I not see this coming?"
This type of writing is not easy but that's why authors are authors. That's why they make a living at it. Suspense created because the reader has no idea what's happening purely because there is no information provided to them until the end is a lot easier. Again, there is a difference between skillfully conveying just enough info to make the ending plausible while not showing your hand so that the reader stays in that state of suspense, and just plain 'ole not providing any support for the ending so the reader is obviously surprised. Keeping a reader completely in the dark is within the author's power but is not indicative of skillful writing. This is why I find James Patterson's writing style in the few books I read really annoying.
